TheSouthern Ute Tribe of Colorado is hoping alternative energy will help sustain its future.

The tribe partnered with Solix Energy Inc to open a biofuels plant. The Coyote Gulch Demonstration Facility will grow green algae that will be converted into oil.

""We started to understand that our government needed to sustain into the future, and we needed to have the ability to invest," Chairman Matthew Box told The Durango Herald. "Natural gas was here, but more and more we realized relying on it indefinitely was not feasible."

The plant is being operated in a pilot basis to see whether enough oil can be produced and sold on a commercial basis.

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An algae alternative (The Durango Herald 7/30)